Hyrule Knights
by Kouta Aburame
Summary: Link may be the star of the show but he isn't the only warrior in Hyrule. Join Joseph as he leads the Hyrulian Knights in one of their greatest and most tragic hours. Rated T for violence


Dark clouds poured rain and lightning upon Hyrule Castle as darkness drew ever closer. The sound of the gathering bell echoed throughout the halls, causing the soldiers to rush toward the main hall. Their movements were panicked and unorganized. It was clear their years of peace caused them to drop their guard.

It seemed like ages before the clamoring of metal armor dissipated from the stone halls as everyone entered the main hall. Like the rest of the castle, it was composed of solid stone with banners spanning the sides. A wooden platform for speeches stretched to either side of the room, its front facing the entrance. Upon the platform was King Daphnes sitting upon a throne in back, his daughter Zelda by his side, and the Commander of Daphnes's entire army.

The man looked surprisingly clean amongst his scared and dirtied comrades who were now entering the room. His clean armor, neat hair, and white teeth suggested him to be a son of the king, not one of his servants. Still, his blue eyes shown more experience than even Zelda's guardian Impa despite his youthful age.

By now, all the soldiers in the castle besides the sentry guard were sitting in the great hall. A roar of rumors now drowned the sound of clanking metal echoing through the room. Only when the Commander raise his hands did the silence themselves to listen.

The Commander was now pacing from side to side on the platform always staring at the crowd of worried and flustered soldiers: When he finally did start talking, there was a powerful presence behind his voice "Soldiers of Hyrule," He said clearly, "It seems that Ganondorf has betrayed our alliance and is attempting to break into Hyrule Castle."

The voices were even louder and more panicked than before once again returning to silence with the raising of the Commanders hands: "We've raised the drawbridge to the town so he can't get reinforcements in. However, Ganondorf himself, along with a portion of Ganondorfs army has entered the town and is marching to our gates even as I speak.

"Ganondorf not only has the Gerudo's fighting with him but a whole army of monsters as well. We already have people posted at the gates but I'm not sure how long they can hold. We must bring them reinforcements as soon as possible before we loose the gate. I suggest you bring as little armor as possible as the rain has softened the ground.

"That is all the information I have. Remember, we've all trained for this moment. To protect our friends, our families, and most of all, our king! So for the glory of Hyrule, we shall fight!!" A mighty cheer rang through the hall as men voices rang through the hall.

Joseph held his drawn sword to the Goddess statue: "No go my brothers! We shall protect this land and its king with our very lives!"

The fear had left the men as they marched confidently from the room to the gates. The Commander was stepping off the platform to join his men in the battle when Daphnes stopped him.

"Wait Joseph," the king said.

"What do you need my king," Joseph replied bowing.

"Commander I have another task for you. I need you and Impa to escort Zelda and escape from the town." Said the king

"Sorry to object my lord but wouldn't Zelda be safer here in the walls of Hyrule Castle?"

"I thought so to but she needs to find someone."

"Who is important enough for the princess to risk her safety?" Questioned the Commander.

"A boy wearing green with a fairy. She has told me he is journeying for the three spiritual stones to open the Door of Time. You must bring the Ocarina of Time to him. If we have the keys to the Door of Time, we can retrieve the Master Sword and force Ganondorf back to the desert."

He thought about this for a while with conflicting interest. He wanted to fight with his troops. To fight the enemy he spent hundreds of hours of training to defeat. Besides, it was hard to place his countries entire fate in the hands of a young boy. Yet, it was princess Zelda who asked for him to do this. From her birth, she had dreams that almost always foretold the future. If Zelda said this boy was important, then he believed he was.

"Understood, I'll protect the princess with my life," he said.

"May Farore keep you safe," was all the king said as the two of them left the hall.

Impa was already there by the time they reached the stable, the Kings white stallion saddled up and ready for travel. Joseph always had his brown appaloosa ready to move in case of such a time. They placed Zelda on the white stallion while Impa rode behind to keep her on. Then, after mounting his horse, they rode down the road leading to the gate.

The rain felt like sharp rocks striking his face as he galloped through the blanked of it ahead of Impa's stallion. Impa quickly pulled a blanket over Zelda to not only shield her from the rain, but the small chunks of mud Joseph's horse was kicking. Still, as Joseph moved close to the battlefield, closer to Ganondorf, he had a terrible premonition.

Whenever Ganondorf came to visit the King, he would normally play a chess match with some of the castle guards. Joseph only played him once but that was all it took to see Ganondorf's tactical genius. Joseph may have won that particular game but just barely. Now in their rematch, the board's power was shifted, leaning in Ganondorfs favor before the game even started! "Oh Nayru," he thought, "Grant me the wisdom to protect our castle."

By the time they reached the castle gate, the men were already positioned in line formation behind the gate. As he suggested, they wore little armor to allow mobility in the deep mud caused by the rain. He walked up to the first man, "What's the status soldier?" he asked.

"Sir, our troops are situated and are awaiting further orders."

"Excellent, have you located Ganondorf's army?"

"Currently they are waiting in the castle town."

"Have they sent a messenger?"

Almost on que, a bird-like creature appeared before them. He wore bright orange robes that revealed only his protruding beak. Joseph had only heard about these things in legends. Powerful magicians that could conjure fire at will. The stronger ones could even summon monsters to their aid. If Ganondorf had these "Wizzrobes" in his army, they were even worse off than he thought.

The Wizzrobe spoke, "My maasteer proopoosees aa deeaal," It said straining its vowels.

"How generous of him to send a messenger. What does he want?" He asked.

"Iif yoouu reeliinquuiish thee Priinceess aand thee Oocaariinaa, my maasteer wiil aalloow yoouu to leeaavee wiith yoouur liivees."

"And if I refuse this request?"

The Wizzrobe cracked a wicked smile, "Theen wee wiill buurn yoouur kiing wiith yoouur coorpsees." Joseph couldn't help but flinch at this creature's morbid pleasure, "Yoouu haavee oonee haalf hoouur, iif wee doo noot haavee whaat wee waant by theen, yoouu wiill haavee chooseen yoouur oown faatee." The Wizzrobe disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The Wizzrobes threat succeeded in freighting the soldiers. Once again, the soldiers murmured in worrisome tones.

"Ganondorf has monsters under his command."

"I don't want to burn!"

"What are we going to do?"

"We'll fight that's what!!" Joseph said.

"Well then what **are** we going to do? Ganondorf not only has the strength of the Gerudo's but of all kinds of beasts!"

"We have the advantage of defense solider!" He said looking at the cliffs, "Graume!"

A man stepped out from the now forming crowd around Joseph. He looked to be in his twenties wearing a plate of light leather across his chest, arms, and legs. His thick brown hair was flattened by constant rain hiding one of his eyes. The other one though was a light gray something unique amongst the plethora of soldiers.

"Yes sir."

"I need you to take your archer squad and assemble on these cliffs. Have them stay low until I give the signal, alright?"

"Alright," Graume said taking his men.

"Now, I want every possible man on horseback and in formation ASAP!"

"Yes sir!"

The soldiers moved frantically positioning based on Josephs orders. They had to move quickly and fortify their defenses. He knew they were at a grave disadvantage and even now he doubted they would even whether the night.

The half-hour seemed like an eternity as men stood ready to battle. Joseph had himself along with the cavalry positioned on the front lines with pike men behind them. He placed the swordsmen on the sides and rear to keep other swordsmen from reaching the pike men. Further back still stood the white stallion with Impa and Zelda.

By now, the rain had ceased though the dark clouds still hung overhead. Ganondorf's army appeared around the bend of the cliff. The Gerudo weren't accustomed to fighting on horseback so their warriors took the front on foot. Behind them was an assortment of monsters from Stalfos to Wizzrobes and Ganondorf himself, surrounded by four Iron Knuckles bought the rear.

Both armies stood still, both victims to the massive tension filling the air. Joseph knew this was the calm before the storm. Then, in an instant, the tension shattered as the gates opened and the armies charged.

Before the two armies completely merged, the archers on the cliffs began firing through Ganondorf's army taking out several Wizzrobes and a few Gerudos. Then, the cavalry hit the Gerudos as they pulled their scimitars. Despite the advantage the cavalry had over their enemies, the Gerudos were very skilled with their weapons and fought on par with their mounted foes.

At Josephs order, the swordsmen and pikemen began spreading to the sides, surrounding the monster army. Ganondorf saw this and brought forth his high Wizzrobes to summon more monsters. He still faced a clutch situation though. He didn't expect this lazy army to think so quickly and efficiently especially on the battlefield. He greatly underestimated his foe, which placed the armies into a deadlock despite Ganondorf's superior strength and numbers.

Still, he had an ace up his sleeve, the Iron Knuckles standing as his guard could easily destroy the enemy force. This was his last resort though because if he let the Iron Knuckles loose on the army, he would loose his protection, not that he needed any. Not only that, but Iron Knuckles while powerful, were uncontrollable in battle. They might even end up killing more of his army than the enemies.

Even as he thought of this, Joseph had defeated his Gerudo opponent and was pushing through his front lines. He decided to leave his horse behind thinking it would be to easily killed in the mass crowding of monsters.

Almost immediately, he was encountered by a Stalfos, which attempted to finish him quickly with a stab. Joseph was swift though, sidestepping the clumsy strike and severed the arm of his attacker. The Stalfos didn't even flinch at the lost arm and continued into a shield bash striking Joseph hard knocking him to the ground.

The Stalfos attempted to take advantage of the moment to attach his lost arm but a nearby pike man pierced though its skull destroying the magic that animated its body. Joseph got back to his feet, the wind knocked out of him but there was no time to recover as an orange robed Wizzrobe flew his direction.

It quickly summoned over five bubbles and sent them flying at Joseph. At the same time, Moblins were attacking from the sides. Joseph reached into his pocket pulling out some cracked hard-shell nuts. He threw them at the ground, creating a stunning flash that incapacitated the monsters around him.

Using the opportunity, he swung his sword, hitting three Bubbles that lost their shields. He then quickly sidestepped, stabbing a Moblin on his left. However, the flash wore off and the enraged Wizzrobe summoned even more bubbles to attack. This was hopeless. As long as that monster was still alive, he could summon an endless amount of monsters to protect himself.

Just as he was about to give up hope, a dagger flew through the air and struck the Wizzrobe between the eyes. Impa had broken ranks and saved him from an endless battle.

"Impa! What are you doing here?! Aren't you supposed to protect Zelda?!" He asked fighting another moblin.

"Relax, I have a plan but for it to work, we need to get to the other side of the battlefield."

Joseph knew Impa's background and trusted her judgment. After all, Impa wouldn't leave Zelda without thinking she was absolutely safe: "Alright, lead the way."

With Impa's help, Joseph easily killed the remaining monsters and continued on through the battlefield. Ganondorf was absolutely furious. That boy in the middle was breaking the deadlock, placing him at a disadvantage. His army was crushing under the pressure like a tin can. He had no choice now; he had to resort to his trump card.

Joseph and Impa plowed through the enemy army mostly stunning them before rushing on. They almost made it out of the mass when something truly horrifying caught their eyes. The Iron Knuckles surrounding Ganondorf, now entered the fray and were slaughtering anything that stood on their path.

From head to toe, the mighty warriors were covered with gold plating. Arrows rained upon them from the cliffs but they barely put even a dent in the thick armor. One was ahead of the others, wielding an axe that took out both friend and foe. The other three were further back, but quickly approaching swinging chain maces through the air creating a solid lethal wall.

Now **Joseph** was forced into a clutch. He couldn't let these things reach the battlefield. If they did, they could easily crush most of his army. At the same time though, he couldn't waste anymore of his strength here, seeing how Ganondorf lay at the end of this chaos and the last obstacle to Zelda's escape.

He didn't have much time to think. The Iron Knuckle in front had already reached them. Impa and Joseph barely managed to duck before the blade swung over their heads cleaving a nearby Moblins head off. Joseph made his decision.

Quickly, he grabbed Impa and led her away from the Iron Knuckle. He had to focus his efforts on the mace wielding knuckles if they wanted to pass the battlefield. It didn't take nearly as long to reach them as before, seeing most of the monsters in the middle were either dead or wounded from the knuckles passing. Still, others were running towards the gates to escape the thrashing wall the other three made.

Joseph still couldn't think of a plan to get past those knuckles. If he or Impa were struck by one of those maces, there wouldn't even be a body to identify. It was too much of a risk to run in directly and the cliffs stood on either side. They were trapped.

Then, luck struck as a mace struck the far left knuckle in the face knocking his helmet from his head. Joseph and Impa saw there chance and rushed toward the stunned knuckle. Impa threw a dagger into the things eye incapacitating it even further as they reached the range of the maces. However, the Iron Knuckle wasn't finished yet. In rage, it lifted the heavy mace ball over his head in an attempt to squash its attackers. It never completed the action though as an arrow flew straight between his eyes. His body went limp and the mace ball he was carrying fell, caving in his skull.

Impa and Joseph continued through the now breached wall just barely avoiding the middle knuckles mace and found them face to face with Ganondorf. He appearance had changed slightly since the last time he saw him. Somehow on that black horse, his eyes shown power as if he was still in control despite his weakened army. It was at that moment Joseph knew even if they both took him on, they would still be beaten.

Joseph turned to Impa: "Impa where's Zelda?"

"She's ready to go on command," Impa said.

"Good, then get out of here, I'll hold him off."

"But what about you?"

"Can't you feel it? It imense pressure, it feels like Din hersel. Even if we both attacked him together, we would still fall. So Impa, take Zelda and run."

"If we can't win, then I'll distract him."

"No. Only you can take Zelda away. Now get her and go."

Impa still refused to leave him behind but she knew he was right. Putting her fingers in her mouth, she whistled to the horse, which jumped off the cliff with princess Zelda on her back. In one fluid motion, Impa swung to the top of the horse as it landed. Then Impa rode off past Ganondorf towards the main gate.

Ganondorf wasn't about to let his prize go so easily. He turned his hand preparing to fire a blast at the retreating Zelda when Joseph kicked him off his horse. He got up to see who would dare to strike him to see Joseph standing their sword at his side ready for a fight. Ganondorf couldn't let such impudence go unpunished but he also had to catch Zelda before she escaped. As much as he hated it, he would have to finish this man quickly.

The two rushed at each other and struck blades with superhuman speed and power. Their blades were striking with such speed it made it hard to hear each individual clang. It was like watching the goddesses themselves fight. The entire battle stopped for an instant unable to take their eyes this amazing skirmish.

Ganondorf struck quickly, throwing several jabs at the warrior, testing the warrior's skill. The warrior block all of his attacks as expected but he wasn't done yet.

It was obvious Ganondorf was testing him but he was having difficulty throwing a counterstrike. The attack was just too feroucious and swift, leaving no openings in his defense. He knew eventually the beserking Gerudo would force an opening. He didn't have much time.

Ganondorf was increasing the varity of attacks, his sword dancing in high and low archs. Even now the warrior was dodging his attacks, using his sword to divert the blade, rather than take the attack head-on.

Then, an opening appeared in the young man's guard. It was faint, only a sword with apart, but a hole appeared right above his heart. He took no time exploiting it, wanting to eliminate this pest quickly.

A triumphant grin spread across the warriors face but it was too late, his stab was already executed. The warrior jumped and with the grace of a cat, landed direcly on his sword.

Ganondork only had enough time to duck under the horizontal slash as it shaved his forehead. The bend knocked him off balance and he slipped into the mud. Joseph lept off the collapsed platform and thrust downward to his throat. Ganondorf lifted his sword, blocking the tip mere inches from his neck.

"I must admit… I'm impressed," Ganondorf grunted, "You could have easily killed my father in battle… However, I won't let someone like you stand in the way of my destiny."

Ganondorf's body began to glow red and he forced Joseph away by pure force knocking him off balance. Ganondorf got up quickly and attempted a side slash. His speed had increased and Joseph had barely enough time to move to block but his blade could no longer hold against Ganondorf's power. The blade ripped through Joseph's sword and cleaved him in half.

Ganondorf wasn't about to let him go with just that though. He raised his free hand for another blast one more powerful than anything he ever created. Joseph spat blood as his torso fell to the ground. It was hard to think through the pain but he realized this would be the end result all along. All he could hope now was his men would stand strong in his death and finish Ganondorf off.

Ganondorf fired the blast, striking Josephs split body as it fell reducing it to ash. The great Commander of the Hyrulian army was no more.

Joseph's men saw there defeated leader and began to panic. They broke ranks and scattered in all directions, many of them falling to the remaining monsters. It was over, Hyrule Castle was his but Ganondorf still wasn't satisfied. He mounted his dark horse and rushed back to the gates.

By the time he got there, the gates were already lowered and Zelda was gone. Damn that man! He managed to buy them enough time to escape! Still, he saw a boy wearing green with a small sword and shield. Surly he saw those two flee the castle so he asked.

"Boy, did you see a horse run past her with a little girl? Answer me!"

**Thanks for reading my story whether you liked it or not. Please leave me a review. I want to know if you liked me substituting God with the Goddesses in the story. Also, I want to know if you like the battle scene and if the mood was set right.**

**I'm thinking of writing another zelda fanic. I noticed the plot of pulling people from our world into the zelda world and nearly everyone I read is terrible! I was thinking of trying the idea myself with a few twiks and attempt to at least make a decent story. Tell me if you what you think of this project and whether to go through with it.**


End file.
